Stocks to Watch: American Apparel, Exelixis, Francesca’s Holdings

American Apparel unveiled the terms for its planned heavily dilutive stock sale, as it seeks to raise money for purposes including a debt payment next month. At least 61 million shares will be sold for 50 cents each, a sharp discount to Tuesday’s close. Shares dropped 16% premarket, matching the sale price.

Shares of Exelixis dropped 29% to $4.58 premarket as the biotech company said its COMET-1 prostate cancer trial would proceed to final analysis expected later this year, disappointing some analysts who where hoping for an early end to the trial should it prove sufficient survival benefits. Stifel lowered its price target to $9 from $11 as it pushed back expectations for Cometriq to launch as a prostate cancer treatment in 2016 rather than 2015.

Five Below Inc. fiscal fourth-quarter profit grew 31% as the discount retailer’s sales were boosted by new store openings and a modest increase at existing locations. Shares surged 17% to $44.60 premarket.

Francesca’s said its fiscal fourth-quarter earnings fell 29% as the clothing and accessories retailer’s sales missed reduced expectations while markdowns and promotions contributed to lower margins. Chief Executive Neill P. Davis said the sales miss was driven by boutique closures during January due to extreme weather conditions.” He added the negative trends have continued into the current quarter, sending shares down 7% to $19.40 premarket.

PVH Corp. swung to a loss in the fiscal fourth quarter as the clothing company faced charges tied to its acquisition of Warnaco Group Inc., a deal that helped boost revenue. Adjusted earnings topped the company’s own forecast. Shares edged up 2.8% to $120.50 premarket.

ReneSola Ltd. said it is being probed as part of the U.S. Department of Commerce’s antidumping investigation of solar products imports. The Chinese solar-products company said it has temporarily stopped shipping products to the U.S. that fall within the scope of the probe and it intends to fully cooperate with the investigation proceedings. Shares dropped 3.6% to $3.78 premarket.

Corvex Management LP and Related Fund Management LLC called for an earlier special meeting to replace CommonWealth REIT 's entire board, with the activist investors criticizing the company’s former board for leaving without engaging in a transition process.

Activist investor Barington Capital Group LP on Wednesday called for the Darden Restaurants Inc. to consider seeking out a new chief executive, saying it has “lost confidence” in current chief Clarence Otis’ ability to run the company.

Facebook Inc. made its second blockbuster acquisition of the year, agreeing Tuesday to acquire Oculus VR Inc., a maker of virtual-reality goggles, for $2 billion in cash and stock.

Memorial Production Partners LP said it acquired properties in the Eagle Ford trend from privately held Alta Mesa Holdings LP for $173 million.

New York Times Co. unveiled Wednesday two new tiers for digital subscriptions, offering both new low-price and premium models to be introduced next week.

Pfizer Inc. said its injectable drug for small-for-gestational-age children showed statistically significant increases in height after 24 months in a phase 3B study. The study was intended to generate additional data regarding the safety and efficacy of Genotropin in children born small-for-gestational-age who fail to achieve catch-up growth by two years of age.